The Obama administration proposed spending $27.4 million in funding for the Craney Island Marine Terminal, a dual-purpose project that would create a new ocean cargo facility for Virginia Port Authority and expand storage capacity for material dredged from Hampton Roads harbor.

While an effort led by U.S. Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner to insert $50 million for the project fell short, the proposed 2012 funding dwarfs the $1 million earmarked in the year-earlier budget.

In a press release, Webb and Warner hailed the inclusion of $27.4 million, noting it will create thousands of jobs, both in short-term construction and over the long haul.

Of the $1 million included in the president's 2011 budget proposal, only $100,000 survived after the appropriations process. Though just a small fraction of the roughly $400 million cost of the expansion's first phase, the 2011 federal funding turned Craney into an existing project rather than a "new start," a crucial distinction.

The expansion's estimated $2.2 billion to $2.5 billion cost will be split evenly between the state and federal governments.

In the defense budget, shipbuilding made a major advance.

The Obama administration proposed spending nearly $20 billion on shipbuilding and conversion programs in fiscal 2012, up from $15.7 billion in fiscal 2011.

The proposed funding will support the construction of 11 ships, including two Virginia class submarines, which are built in a partnership between the Newport News shipyard and General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn.

It also includes advance funding for the yet-to-be-named CVN-79 Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier and additional fast-attack submarines.